Fishing expeditions can be fun.....and productive...
Posted on 05/12/2006 4:20:52 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
Verizon: No unfettered access for govt
By Sinead Carew 7 minutes ago
Verizon Communications said on Friday it does not and will not provide any government agency unfettered access to customer records, responding to a report that it was one of three U.S. telephone companies that had given access to data on millions of consumers.
USA Today reported on Thursday that the National Security Agency (NSA) was secretly amassing phone records from the country's three biggest phone companies to analyze calling patterns in an effort to detect terrorist plots.
The report prompted both Democrats and Republicans to demand explanations amid brewing concern over personal privacy rights. A Senate panel plans to ask the phone companies for information on the matter.
"Verizon does not, and will not, provide any government agency unfettered access to our customer records or provide information to the government under circumstances that would allow a fishing expedition," the company said on Friday.
The telecommunications company said it could not comment on a "highly classified" National Security Agency program that President George W. Bush has referred to, nor could it confirm or deny whether it has had any relationship to the program.
The revelation late last year that the NSA was eavesdropping inside the United States without warrants on international phone calls and e-mails of terrorism suspects sparked an uproar. The USA Today report, if confirmed, means the agency's domestic program has been on a far wider scale.
Bush on Thursday denied the government was "trolling through" Americans' personal lives, saying intelligence activities he had authorized were lawful and the government was not eavesdropping on domestic calls without court approval.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Another load of misguided crap...
Now, let's see Verizon sue somebody over this.
I'm starting to sense a rope-a-media-dope.
I haven't read the USA TODAY rag in years. Do they still do all those goofy pie charts?
Fishing expeditions can be fun.....and productive...
Isnt it great? A war on terror with the governments hands tied behind their backs. Keep on folks you are helping the jihadists more and more every day.
Sounds to me that Verizon is challenging USA Today’s “anonymous source” claim
Yes, if we have any privacy, the terrorists have won. Come on. There's a proper balance to be had, but statements like that are just silly.
Facts are good.
With all the noise in the press about "NSA" wiretaps, especially with today's USA re-print of a NYT story from December of last year. AND ...
As someone with a Libertarian view towards the Federal government, i.e., the less, and less intrusive govt the better ... I decided to go to wikipedia and read the law myself.
Fascinating ...
The gov't **has** the legal right,
"pursuant to a court order or other lawful authorization,
to access call-identifying information that is reasonably available to the carrier ... in a format such that they may be transmitted by means of equipment, facilities, or services procured by the government to a location other than the premises of the carrier." ... e.g., the NSA.
This became public law when Congress passed and Clinton signed The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) on October 25, 1994.
Bummer.
Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994 [aka CALEA]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Assistance_for_Law_Enforcement_Act
The Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) is a law passed by Congress on October 25, 1994 and signed into law by then President William J Clinton. It came into force on January 1, 1995. (Pub. L. No. 103-414, 108 Stat. 4279). In its own words, the purpose of CALEA is:
To amend title 18, United States Code, to make clear a telecommunications carrier's duty to cooperate in the interception of communications for Law Enforcement purposes, and for other purposes.
Provisions of CALEA
The U.S. Congress passed the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) to aid law enforcement in its effort to conduct surveillance of citizens via digital telephone networks. The Act obliges telephone companies to make it possible for law enforcement agencies to tap any phone conversations carried out over its networks, as well as making call records available. The act also stipulates that it must not be possible for a person to detect that his or her conversation is being monitored by the respective government agency.
Poll: Most Americans Support NSA's Efforts
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/12/AR2006051200375_pf.html
By Richard Morin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 12, 2006; 7:00 AM
A majority of Americans support a controversial National Security Agency program to collect information on telephone calls made in the United States in an effort to identify and investigate potential terrorist threats, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The new survey found that 63 percent of Americans said they found the NSA program to be an acceptable way to investigate terrorism, including 44 percent who strongly endorsed the effort. Another 35 percent said the program was unacceptable, which included 24 percent who strongly objected to it.
A slightly larger majority--66 percent--said they would not be bothered if NSA collected records of personal calls they had made, the poll found.
According to the poll, 65 percent of those interviewed said it was more important to investigate potential terrorist threats "even if it intrudes on privacy." Three in 10--31 percent--said it was more important for the federal government not to intrude on personal privacy, even if that limits its ability to investigate possible terrorist threats.
Half--51 percent--approved of the way President Bush was handling privacy matters.
USA Today disclosed in its Thursday editions the existence of the massive domestic intelligence-gathering program. The effort began soon after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Since then, the agency began collecting call records on tens of millions of personal and business telephone calls made in the United States. Agency personnel reportedly analyze those records to identify suspicious calling patterns but do not listen in on or record individual telephone conversations.
Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994
From Wikisource: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Communications_Assistance_for_Law_Enforcement_Act_of_1994
Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994
Pub. L. No. 103-414, 108 Stat. 4279
To amend title 18, United States Code, to make clear a telecommunications carrier's duty to cooperate in the interception of communications for Law Enforcement purposes, and for other purposes.
SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this title--
… (2) The term `call-identifying information' means dialing or signaling information that identifies the origin, direction, destination, or termination of each communication generated or received by a subscriber by means of any equipment, facility, or service of a telecommunications carrier.
SEC. 103. ASSISTANCE CAPABILITY REQUIREMENTS.
(a) CAPABILITY REQUIREMENTS- Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), and (d) of this section and sections 108(a) and 109(b) and (d), a telecommunications carrier shall ensure that its equipment, facilities, or services … are capable of-- …
(2) expeditiously isolating and enabling the government, pursuant to a court order or other lawful authorization, to access call-identifying information that is reasonably available to the carrier--
… (B) in a manner that allows it to be associated with the communication to which it pertains, except that, with regard to information acquired solely pursuant to the authority for pen registers and trap and trace devices (as defined in section 3127 of title 18, United States Code), such call-identifying information shall not include any information that may disclose the physical location of the subscriber (except to the extent that the location may be determined from the telephone number);
(3) delivering intercepted communications and call-identifying information to the government, pursuant to a court order or other lawful authorization, in a format such that they may be transmitted by means of equipment, facilities, or services procured by the government to a location other than the premises of the carrier; and
(4) facilitating authorized communications interceptions and access to call-identifying information unobtrusively and with a minimum of interference with any subscriber's telecommunications service and in a manner that protects-
(A) the privacy and security of communications and call-identifying information not authorized to be intercepted; and
(B) information regarding the government's interception of communications and access to call-identifying information.
`SEC. 2522. ENFORCEMENT OF THE COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANCE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ACT
`(a) ENFORCEMENT BY COURT ISSUING SURVEILLANCE ORDER- If a court authorizing an interception under this chapter, a State statute, or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.) or authorizing use of a pen register or a trap and trace device under chapter 206 or a State statute finds that a telecommunications carrier has failed to comply with the requirements of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, the court may, in accordance with section 108 of such Act, direct that the carrier comply forthwith and may direct that a provider of support services to the carrier or the manufacturer of the carrier's transmission or switching equipment furnish forthwith modifications necessary for the carrier to comply.
(b) PEN REGISTERS AND TRAP AND TRACE DEVICES- Section 3121 of title 18, United States Code, is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new subsection:
`(c) LIMITATION- A government agency authorized to install and use a pen register under this chapter or under State law shall use technology reasonably available to it that restricts the recording or decoding of electronic or other impulses to the dialing and signaling information utilized in call processing.'.
-end excerpts-
I dont agree its silly. The Democrats are tying the intelligence communities hands. They could care less about your privacy, they are shooting at George Bush and this administration. Is your privacy so dear to you that you want our intelligence handcuffed.?
Hell, put a direct line to NSA on my phone I could care less. These Congress critters have been giving aid and comfort to the enemy since the start of this war and this is just more of the same. I call them treasonous ,and I assume you think that is silly too.
It depends on the scenario, but the Bill of Rights exists for a reason. Do you believe there should be no limits on what the government can do?
I call them treasonous ,and I assume you think that is silly too.
Well yes, because it trivializes the term. Dissent is not treason, and neither is concern for civil liberties.
That statement is just too damn ignorant to respond to.
Some info on the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act of 1994, which was passed by voice vote in both houses...
How quickly they forget.
Consumers also appeared uncomfortable with the matter. Callers to Qwest's customer service centers who were seeking to abandon their Verizon and AT&T service on Thursday were greeted with assurances that the company will respect and protect its customers' privacy.
Qwest spokesman Bob Toevs said offering that greeting was "standard procedure" for the company's customer service representatives and wasn't anything new. Still, Qwest's representatives reported they received a large number of calls from potential customers eager to deal with a company that will respect their privacy.
It was too early to tell the extent of the impact on Qwest's business and the company declined official comment.
At a Verizon franchise store in Salt Lake City, Anne Marie Stahulak expressed delight that her two-year relationship with the New York-based telecom giant was over.
"It's a good thing I just did my last transaction with them," Stahulak said. "What they've done, it doesn't make me happy." "Unhappy" didn't cut it for Ammon Smith. "I'm angry. It makes me angry and nervous. They have too much control. Nazi Germany - that's what it will be soon." Smith paid his final bill at Verizon on Thursday. He said he had switched to Cricket, which has not been implicated in the data-sharing allegations.
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